High School Students Cause Uproar As They Don KKK Robes At Hockey Game

Three unidentified students are being investigated for sporting Ku Klux Klan-styled garb at a state semifinal hockey game last Friday in North Dakota, reports the Los Angeles Times.

The game was played at the Ralph Engelstad Arena on the University of North Dakota’s campus in Grand Forks. The three attendees, photographed by student Shane Shuster, were spotted sitting in the Red River High School student section of the arena. Shuster uploaded the photo to Twitter.

Schuster, who was taken aback by what he witnessed, was sitting in another section of the crowded stadium. He told The Times, “I thought, ‘Are those KKK hoods?’ I couldn’t believe it,” Schuster said. “I was shocked.”

When high school officials and tournament organizers got wind of the controversial incident, the hoods were removed by the game’s second period.

All of the students in the Red River section were dressed almost entirely in white as part of a designed whiteout color scheme for fans. According to the high school’s principal, Kristopher Arason, who conducted an investigation into the disturbing situation, the students had donned the white KKK-like robes until their hockey team scored its first goal. Shuster says the trio wore the hoods for a total of about 10 to 20 minutes. The youths were then forced to remove the KKK costumes by fellow students who found them distasteful.

According to Fox News, Arason, who says that the youth’s parents have been contacted and “appropriate action is being taken,” released the following statement regarding the highly charged incident:

“We, as a school, are extremely disappointed with the behavior of these three students. This behavior is not a representation of our school or student body.”

Red River’s opposing team, Davies High School, was named after Ronald Davies, a federal judge who ordered the 1957 desegregation of the then all-white Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas.